Wolf Totem

That was the wrong bus.

What?

Is this the bus to Wulagai?

That was in 1967...

...the second year

of the Cultural Revolution.

City students were sent

to the countryside.

- The Great Wall!

- Huh?

The Great Wall. Look!

I volunteered.

I was among the very first to go.

I picked Inner Mongolia...

...wherever that was.

It was so exciting to escape...

...the hard life we had in Beijing...

...during that troubled period.

Don't forget my books!

Goodbye.

See you.

See you!

Look. So beautiful.

Which is the brigade leader's yurt?

The one with the wolf totem.

Welcome.

Hello.

We are students from Beijing.

- My name is Yang Ke.

Ah.

That's Chen Zhen.

Hello.

Welcome.

How are you?

How are you?

Are you the leader?

Yes.

All right.

My name is Bilig.

I am Bao Shungui.

I am the new head of production

for your area.

I bring...

Come, come.

These two students...

...will stay here for two years.

You will take care of their living...

...and give them work.

They will teach the kids...

...to read and write Mandarin.

I am going now.

Goodbye.

- See you.

- Goodbye.

What's inside?

Books.

Only books.

That's my son's yurt.

Yours is over there.

This will be your home.

Here.

This is for your protection.

Protection against what?

Mosquitoes.

Wolves.

You city boys...

...what did you learn at school?

Sorry.

Late again.

Easy, stop.

Give it to me.

Did you see the gazelles?

Hard to miss them.

I wonder

what they were running away from.

Do you have your club?

I've forgotten it.

Take this one.

Okay.

- Take care.

- Sure.

Whoa. Whoa.

It's okay.

Easy!

Easy.

Did the awe

that the Mongolian wolf inspired...

...come from a cult deeply entrenched...

...in man's brain since time immemorial?

My heart filled with gratitude...

...for the secret forces

that came to my rescue.

I had the feeling...

...that I'd started to open the door...

...to the spiritual world

of the grassland people.

What happened?

Gasma.

Huh?

You all right?

Huh?

"Riding this vast, deserted land...

...he could not stand walls,

barriers or borders.

He'd never surrendered to anyone.

He'd rather die than be taken prisoner. "

What does

"never surrendered to anyone" mean?

If a person is not free...

...then he is better off dead.

Mm.

And then?

Uh...

"His dream was to be free

as the wolves.

He would only answer to...

...Great Tengger.

His one and only Master. "

Chen Zhen...

...who do you answer to?

I'm loyal to my parents...

...my superiors,

and people I respect.

I hope that includes me.

To be honest...

...there was one instruction

I did disobey.

I left the path

on the way home.

My horse and I were surrounded

by a pack of wolves.

But I remembered that you told me...

...wolves were scared

of the sound of steel traps.

So, I banged my stirrups.

You saved me.

You're not entirely stupid.

A'ba.

Wolves fascinate me.

I am thinking...

...in the spring...

...I would like to capture a cub

to study it.

What?

You want to study wolves?

Look.

What do you think they'll do?

What are they waiting for?

They have been waiting

for this moment for months.

The desire to kill tortures them.

But they are not going to waste it

because of haste.

How do you think Genghis Khan

defeated the great armies of the world...

...with so few mounted warriors?

He learnt the art of war

by studying the wolves...

...that you have in front of you.

Wolves are smart

and organized.

They work together

and obey their leader's decision.

More than anything else...

...they have patience.

Life is about choosing the moment.

Wolves and Mongols understand that.

A'ba.

Yes.

After I escaped from the wolf pack...

...I saw something in the sky.

A smiling face.

Of course.

That was Tengger.

Do you imagine...

...you'd still be alive without Him?

See that?

The gazelles are too full to run fast.

That's what the wolves were waiting for.

They are on the move.

Look, they are about to attack.

The gazelles are too full to run fast.

Get your horse.

- Let's go.

- Aren't we following them?

Too far, too dangerous.

Besides, it will all be over

when we get there.

You will see the result tomorrow.

You see...

...the problem for us Mongols...

...is that our history

wasn't written by us...

...but mostly by our enemies.

You speak Mandarin.

Maybe one day

you'll write about who we really are.

I'm a reader.

Not a writer.

There's a difference.

How do you know?

Have you ever tried?

Look at our son.

He's a real man now.

Chen Zhen, follow me.

You understand

what the wolves have done.

A great Mongol general

did exactly the same thing...

...a few centuries ago.

Mugali drove the cavalry of the great

Jin Dynasty into this snowdrift.

They're probably

still buried there.

Welcome to the wolves' fridge.

They store their meat here

for their newborns in the spring.

Take your carpet...

...if you don't want to turn into wolf food.

Be careful!

Are you all right?

Here is one!

Pull hard, son.

Pull it. Bravo!

Pull. Pull.

Pull it hard, my son.

Pull it hard!

Bravo!

Bayar fished one!

I got one!

Let's go.

A'ba!

This one is still alive!

Let it go!

If it gets stuck again...

...it will be the will of Tengger!

Let the live one go!

These gazelles

are such pitiful creatures.

Wolves are evil,

killing the innocent...

...oblivious to the value of life.

No.

Gazelles are the cruel ones.

They eat all the grass.

Out here, the grass is life.

The Big Life.

All else is Little Life...

...that depends on the Big Life

for survival.

If gazelles are so horrible...

...why do you rescue and free them?

This time, the wolves killed too many.

We have to keep enough gazelles

for them to eat next year.

If not,

they will attack our sheep.

To the Venerable Tribal Leader!

When will you marry a Mongol girl...

...and father a Mongol brat?

Then you'll be one of us!

Especially our beauty, Gasma!

She howls at night!

What are you talking about?

Bullshit!

We can't sleep well!

Be quiet, be quiet!

She is...

...the wolf...

...and you are, baa...

...the sheep.

She sticks her teeth in your neck!

Shut up! You will pay for that!

You're always talking bullshit!

- I dare you, say that again!

I'll teach you a lesson.

Batu, did I say anything wrong?

Lamjav said the same thing, too.

You have to blame yourself.

You deserve it!

You're such a bad guy!

I dare you, say that again!

You deserve that!

Help!

A present for you.

Here you are.

This is Yill. It is my dog.

Yill, you stole my meat.

What's up?

Shartseren!

Let's go!

Let's stay.

We can take more gazelles tomorrow.

We have enough.

What's left is the wolves' share.

Tengger is telling us to leave.

Okay.

We have more than enough

for ourselves.

You'd never see

this much meat in the east.

Have you heard

of the famine there?

So where's this big snow lake of yours?

There's no such place.

120 yuan.

Yes.

- Let's go.

- Bye.

I don't have enough money.

How much have you got?

Oh.

Bring us more gazelles then...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes